A Little Bit of Lisbeth
by Dracoroserade
Summary: A while after Sword Art Online was completed and Lisbeth has sorted out her life. Today just seems like any other, but is it?
1. Chapter 1

A Little Bit of Lisbeth

"Hey, guys, I'm back," Lisbeth called out as she pushed open the door.

Only Keiko's voice came down the stairs. "Hi!" she heard and Liz knew her housemate was currently glued to a screen. She edged her way through the door, her arms full of the day's shopping. The entrance seemed too narrow at first but by shuffling through sideways she managed to get into the house. As she went to nudge the door shut after her, however, a loud ripping sound made her eyes roll, just as several kilos of potatoes, carrots and broccoli were now rolling across the floor of the hall. Looking at the vegetables she realised she couldn't be bothered right then.

The kitchen doorway was easier to navigate, the bags now lighter and less cumbersome. Her phone pinged in her pocket and, sighing, she put the majority of the shopping on the counter and dug it out of her jacket, clicking the side panel to light up the screen. There were a few notifications but it was an alert from the Alfheim messaging app that had caused the ping. She had guessed that it was from Asuna so the name she saw at the top made her pause.

**Kirito**

"Huh," she muttered. "Wonder what he wants." The group hadn't met up for a while so her only group contact had been with Keiko. She swiped through the menu, logged in to the Alfheim system and after a couple of taps her messages were displayed on the screen. Surprisingly, she had quite a few unread, one from Silica.

Walking out into the hall she called up the stairs, "Hey, you messaged me earlier?"

Keiko's voice came from her room, "Yeah, did you get ice cream?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "Well, duh."

In a flash, the smaller girl's face popped round the corner. Liz chuckled as she saw she'd tied her hand-made Pina plushie to her head. "Cool!" she beamed. She looked at the hall floor. "Did they not have a bag for the vegetables?"

Liz ignored the cheeky comment. "Dai not in?"

"Nope, he's off at basketball practice. Ice cream, quickly, my show's on!"

Liz gasped and with mock urgency dashed across the kitchen to grab a spoon, rushing back to thrust both ice cream and cutlery into Keiko's eager hands. The girl with the dragon in her hair shot off up the stairs with a "Cheers, sis!" thrown over her shoulder. Liz grinned and went back into the kitchen.

Keiko was a small, mousey girl Liz had met in Sword Art Online where she'd gone by Silica, a dragon tamer, with a cute, blue dragon named Pina. After SAO was completed the two of them had got on and eventually rented a house together with one of Liz's old friends from middle school. Though she'd grown up somewhat, Keiko was still the baby of the group and Liz loved being her new big sister.

She moved back to browsing her phone. Looking up the list she saw a couple of messages from Klein and cringed, deleting them without reading. She liked Klein but he was just a bit creepy and his messages always seemed like he was hitting on her. Tshere was another from Asuna and some general notifications from the game masters. It was the one at the top that she was interested in though.

**Kirito**

Liz felt that jump in her stomach again, the one she always had whenever Kirito came up. Of course, now she was back in the real world she knew he was Kazuto but then, to her, he'd always be the strong warrior Kirito who took her on her first real adventure. Her real name was Rika and yet, after two years and more, she felt more comfortable as Liz.

Liz almost missed the days of SAO. She'd started the game to see what all the fuss was about. Playing a few MMOs before had been fun and the full dive system looked interesting but all she'd wanted was a bit of a laugh. Of course all this had changed with Akihiko Kayaba's announcement, that first day in the town of beginnings.

Liz had known straight away that she was in too deep. There was no way she could help beat the game, she'd die instantly. Her skills weren't in fighting, mapping or even information. So she'd decided on blacksmithing. Well, first she'd tried running an item shop but she'd been so bored and ended up eating a lot of the food on the shelves. The weapons were exciting though and she was good at it. It felt more like she was directly helping the other players, if they were fighting with the swords that she was crafting, like she was almost there on the front lines.

And then one day she wasn't just a blacksmith making swords. The day that guy in the black coat showed up at her door and asked for the strongest sword she could make. What followed had been Liz's greatest thrill and a story she's told almost everyone. The two of them had gone hunting for a rare metal and ended up almost being dragon-food. Liz would have certainly died and been ejected from the game if she'd been alone but, thankfully, she wasn't. She can still remember how fearless and powerful Kirito had been, how he'd taken on the crystal dragon single-handed and come out victorious.

The not-so-great part of the adventure had come afterward. Liz had managed to create the finest sword she'd ever made, a real beauty, and Kirito had been thrilled. She'd put all her heart into that blade and she couldn't not say what else her heart needed. Just as she'd been about to confess to the dark cloaked stranger who'd brazenly walked into her life just how she felt, however, her friend Asuna walked in. And she saw how the two of them talked, how they looked at each other. And it crushed the blooming flower in her heart like a spiked boot on the last daisy of summer.

She'd made her excuses and left, taking refuge by her favourite bridge. The world had almost faded as she'd watched the water ripple by. It would only have taken another moment to rebuild the wall of her usual happy self in front of the hurt but she was interrupted.

_"__Hey, Liz."_

He'd found her, climbing the tallest tower around to see her. She could tell that he'd realised how she felt but she could also see that he didn't reciprocate those feelings. Liz knew she'd never be with him but she did all she could and made him promise that she would be his exclusive blacksmith. Maybe she couldn't protect him with her arms and press her lips to his but she could shield him with her armour and kiss his enemies' hearts with her blades. They'd carried on as friends and she continued to share adventures with him, Klein, and the other girls but the matter of her heart had never surfaced again.

Liz rushed herself back to the present and pressed her thumb to the 'open' button. She frowned as the words popped up on the screen.

**_Hey. Can you meet me in the city park today at 4? I need to talk to you_**

It seemed sort of serious for Kirito. It wasn't like him to send such a vague message and then to ask her all the way across town too? Something was up. She didn't see why they couldn't have just met in Alfheim either, it would have been easier. _Interesting,_ she thought.

Liz realised she'd been staring aimlessly at the screen so long that it had shut off to save power. She hurriedly hit the keys and sent her response.

**_Sure thing, I'll head over now x_**

The text bubble popped into the conversation. She twisted her fingers around her thumb as she waited for the circle to finish spinning. It did and then the smiling face popped up to let her know that he'd seen her message. She waited a little bit but when no response came she put her phone away again.

"Wonder what he wants," she muttered again.

She was still wondering halfway across town. It had taken a bus and half an hour but she was nearly there. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts that she'd put her headphones on but forgotten to actually play any music. They were keeping her ears warm, at least, in the chill air. It was bright and sunny but there was still a stiff breeze rolling through the city.

Such an odd message made her consider whether it was anything to do with how she felt about him. She was fairly sure he knew, and had for a while, so something would have had to have happened to make him send the message. Could she have made some remark, slipped up? No, she'd held her brave face this whole time around the two of them, not letting the hurt she felt show through. Of course, she was happy for them, they'd found each other and were in love. Only she knew she'd be happier if she was the girl that he held in his arms and kissed every night before he slept next to her.

She laughed. Maybe he finally realised that she was that girl. Oh, how that would be everything she wanted, what she'd wanted for years now. But no, the idea was laughable. He was with Asuna and the two of them were more perfect than anything. What could be much worse, she realised with dread, was if he was going to ask her to leave the group. She wracked her brains, trying to recall anything that could cause that. Nothing came to mind and she sighed with relief as she decided that it likely wasn't that.

Before she knew it she was at the gates of the park. Scanning around, she didn't see Kirito anywhere so she walked into the entrance a little more. That's when she saw him, he'd been behind a tree at first. He was sat on a bench a ways in, his back to her. The thick duffle coat he always wore was easy to spot but she'd know it was him from just the briefest glance at the back of his head. She folded her headphones into her pocket and headed over. A minute later and she was almost behind him, able to see how the breeze was slowly moving his collar. She paused and calmed down her breathing before opening her mouth to announce her presence.

"Hey."

Liz's "Hi there," stuck in her throat. Somehow he'd known it was her. As he turned around she got that rush again, tingling from her stomach to her fingers. She could see his eyes and realised they were even more beautiful than she remembered. Liz caught herself before she ended up staring at him.

"Hey Kirito," she said, and smiled back.

He half-laughed. "Come on, Rika, we're not in Alfheim at the moment. Kazuto please," he said, but she knew he wasn't serious. He turned back away from her but patted the space on the bench next to him.

Liz gently lowered herself into the seat. She suddenly realised she couldn't think of anything to say. The odd situation and Kirito's behaviour had left her totally unsure of herself. She shuffled on the wooden panels. Kirito made no sound and Liz wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to her or not.

The weird tension was killing her. "So, how are-"

"The clouds are pretty today."

Liz turned to see that he was leant back and watching the sky. Looking up herself she saw what he meant, the white giants rolling gently along in the breeze. It had died down slightly now and she was even beginning to feel warm. A particularly smooth cloud caught her gaze and she followed it past the others until it was hidden behind a building. Then suddenly the silence wasn't awkward anymore. The two of them sat there, taking in the gentle movement of the white giants, way up in the blue.

Liz looked over at Kirito and smiled. "How's Asuna?" she heard herself asking.

It was a moment before he answered. "Ah, well, that's the thing." He paused. "I'm afraid that Asuna and I aren't…. well, Asuna and I anymore." He sighed slightly.

Liz blinked. It took a moment for it to register and when it finally hit her she didn't know what to do. So she did nothing. He continued watching the clouds and she sat there with a stark expression on her face. Slowly, she turned to him and was confused when he wasn't looking as sad as she would have expected.

"Can I…. Can I ask what happened?" Liz eyebrows were still raised. Suddenly all she was thinking about was Kirito, everything around them forgotten. Bemused, was how she would have said she felt. It was just so….sudden.

"Well, it's been coming for a while, I've known it. You see," he looked down at the slats of the bench, "there was a reason that things weren't going so well for us."

"Oh?" She could tell Kirito wanted her to ask. "What is it?"

He smiled softly but continued studying the knots in the wood. "It's a bit embarrassing but I knew it wasn't going to work out with Asuna. She just ended up not being what I wanted."

Liz found this strange. Every time she'd spent time with the two of them they looked like they were always thinking about one another. "But you two seemed so perfect for each other?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, I thought so too. But there was always something in the back of my mind that I couldn't shake."

"What was it?"

"Well, a memory kept coming back to me. A memory of a girl who I once climbed the tallest tower around to see, only to find her crying by a bridge." Now he looked up at her and for the first time she felt like he was talking directly to her and not mostly to himself.

She could almost hear the gears trying to turn in her head. Today was a slow one for her. Liz blinked as she realised. Her heart jumped. "Hold on." She shook herself. "Me?" Kirito nodded at her and smiled. She blinked, "Are you sure?"

He smiled at her surprise. "Yes, Rika. You. Are you ok with that?"

Liz couldn't speak. She'd guiltily hoped this would happen for years and now that it had she had no idea what to do. Tears started pooling in her eyes and she looked away, blinking rapidly, and hoped he hadn't seen. She tutted, of course he had, and turned back to him. The two of them locked eyes. Neither moved. She paused, waiting for it all to sink in but his words just continued swirling round her head. She kept blinking, trying to process, him looking back with an amused grin. Holding her hands in front of her she fixed him with a serious but hopeful stare. "One more time. Me?"

This time his face opened into a beaming smile. He was laughing at her reaction but she didn't care. "Yes. Rika, I want you," he finally said.

And then, finally, it clicked. Every little piece that had been floating in the air suddenly fit into place and the puzzle was whole; Kirito wanted _her._

Liz couldn't hold herself back anymore. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him, her face buried in the puffiness of his jacket to hide the tears in her eyes. In a heartbeat his arms were around her too and she realised just how happy it was possible to be. He held her tightly and she knew that if she wanted him to he would never let go.

Liz grinned softly. She sank herself deeper into his arms and yet she couldn't help noticing how the side of her mouth felt cold. A breeze rolled over her skin and she shivered as Kirito and the park slowly faded away. She opened her eyes and saw that the room was in darkness. It took a minute but her heart started to deflate as she realised. She wiped at the cold of her mouth and felt that she'd drooled onto her pillow. The covers slid off her as she sat up. The breeze was coming in where her window had blown open and her curtain flapped over the glass.

There was just enough light that she could look left and see the picture on her nightstand. There in the glass stood the seven of them, Silica and Pina, Asuna, Liz, Sinon, Klein and there, in the centre, Kirito. His smile was visible from wherever she was in the room.

Getting up she stepped into her slippers and crossed over to the window. She pulled it closed and got back into bed, holding her knees and sliding back under the covers. One of her pillows had fallen down the bed and she pulled it into her chest, holding it tightly with her arms. She was used to the numb feeling by now but each time she had that dream it still hurt to wake up.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Life went on being its regular self for a while. They had a few weeks where the weather was scorching and Liz got nice tan from a couple days by the sea. Keiko burned because she didn't bother with sun cream and she was paying for it now. She'd seen a few others around but other than that Liz's time was mainly split between school and relaxing at home or the beach.

It had been another hot Saturday and she'd spent it relaxing on the sand. A few hours had given her a nice glow and she was feeling relaxed and on top of the world. Though all the sun had been getting her tanned it had also meant that she'd started turning almost blonde. Recently, she'd been toying with the idea of having a pink streak dyed in her hair. It wouldn't be quite the full pink bob she had when she was online but it would be nice to have some colour in there. Her dark brown hair had always seemed unremarkable to her.

Dressed in shorts, sandals and a top, Liz was walking back home and feeling the afternoon heat. Her headphones were over her ears and one of her favourite albums was playing from her phone. Seeing it to her right, she decided to take the scenic route, through the park, as it was still sunny and she had nowhere to be anytime soon.

It was kind of busy, the weekend meaning that more people were out and about, but despite this it wasn't crowded. Liz loved this park. It was big and could hold a lot of people but the paths wound through the trees and at times it could feel like there were only a few of you enjoying the breeze in the branches. The shade was nice.

It was a good ten minutes' walk across the park and she enjoyed lazily strolling over the gravel. Her headphones meant she shut out all sound from around her and she felt at peace, almost in her own little bubble. She kept getting small stones between her toes, though, which ruined it a bit. After the fourth shake of a sandal she gave up and headed for the exit.

The path she was on took her to a different part of town and as she left it she had to take a few seconds to get her bearings again. Working out where she was she realised that quite near was where she used to live, before her parents had moved her to the smaller house so they'd be closer to work. She missed that old house. It had the best garden, swings and trees, and she'd had her own room. Moving meant she had had to share with her sister.

_It's only down the road, _she thought, _and kind of on my way_. She nodded and set off towards the place she'd lived for the first ten years of her life.

She hadn't been to this part of the town for ages. The nostalgia trip was both exciting and sad as she kept seeing things and places that reminded her of times when she was still little. There was the sweet shop where she'd spend her pocket money, the shop that her mum had bought her first school uniform at, and the cinema where she and her parents would go. All of it she drank in. She bought a pasty from the independent baker's, that she was thrilled was still there, and it was so good.

But it wasn't all fun. She kept seeing that things she remembered being there weren't any more. Like the arcade that had only recently closed down, it seemed, or the fish and chips shop that sold the largest fish. What made her especially glum was that the old bookshop that Liz would buy her books at was gone. She'd particularly liked it because it used to have a whole display dedicated to books that had been signed by the authors. It was clearly the same building because of the unmistakable wooden frame on the roof. It swept above the other building tops and narrowed to a point, ending with a metal star. Now, though, the books were nowhere to be seen and she sighed as she saw that it had become a betting house, something that Liz held a particular dislike for. She moved quickly on.

A minute later, though, and straight ahead of her was one more blast from the past. Liz slowed as she recognised the all-wooden structure ahead of her. They even had the same jazzy, rock music playing. "Kobayashi's" was painted above the door on a wooden sign. It wasn't overly large but it was a nice family-run café/restaurant with tables and chairs out the front. She remembered that she used to go there quite regularly when she was younger, her dad would take her after swimming for ice cream.

It seemed pretty unchanged. There was new decking and the awning was obviously new but everything else was just as she remembered. _Wonder if they're still doing well_, she mused and wandered through the door, briefly noting the 'Help Wanted' sign in the window. She had to sweep the bead curtain out of the way and it rained down on her back when she was through. A couple finished paying up at the counter as she entered and headed out past her.

Seeing who was working today she smiled. "Hey, Mister Kobayashi, long time no see."

The man behind the counter looked up and beamed at her. He'd gotten fatter since she'd last seen him and Liz noticed how his hair was now mostly grey. But there was no mistaking the man who'd remember she wanted chocolate and vanilla each weekend without ever having to ask her.

His smile was in danger of reaching his ears. "Ah, Rika! It has been a long time. How are you? How's your dad?" He walked around the counter to talk to her properly and shook her hand in earnest. He was all grin and she could tell he was thrilled to see her again.

She smiled back at him, warmly. "We're both good, thank you. He's been promoted at work and now moves all around the country to oversee the company's offices. I'm still at school though. How about you?"

Mr Kobayashi nodded. "I'm good, thank you for asking, still here, still doing my thing. The place has been getting pretty busy lately. Guess the sun's been helping us out," he chuckled. "What have you been getting up to these days?"

"Just school really. The beach has been great in this weather though," she added and gestured over her shoulder to suggest that was where she'd come from. "I haven't been down this way for so long, it was nice to see it all again."

"Well, I'm very glad you did," he said, still beaming. "I don't suppose you'd want to keep coming down this way? We're actually looking for new staff if you're interested? Aiko, bless her, has gone to live with her dad in Kyoto after her parents split up and I'm afraid that Ichiro just doesn't want to help anymore. So we've been advertising around town."

Liz gestured towards the door, "Yeah, I saw the sign. What exactly are you looking for?"

He seemed excited at her interest. His hands started moving more as he talked at least. "Oh, well it'll be two roles eventually but first we'd start you in the café, taking orders, making tea, serving cake. Then once you've got that you can start in the restaurant, delivering food and table service. Sound alright?"

She nodded. "I guess I could, as long as I could do outside school hours?"

He clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Want to do a trial shift? Say, Monday?"

Liz blinked. She'd only come in to say hi. "Er, sure," she grinned. It was about time she got a job, she guessed, it would be nice to have something to do and earn a bit of money doing it.

"Marvellous. Can I get you anything while you're here? We've still got the homemade chocolate-vanilla combo." He winked at her.

Her eyes lit up and she felt flattered that he still remembered. Kobayashi ice cream was the best. "Oh, yes please," she said and reached into her bag for her purse.

He waved his hand at her. "No, no, no, it's on me. I insist. Call it a welcome to the team bonus." He started scooping it into a tub. He'd even remembered that she wasn't a fan of cones.

"Oh, right. Well, thank you very much then." She gratefully took the tub and swiftly brought a scoop of both flavours to her lips. It was even better than she'd remembered. Mr Kobayashi looked thrilled at her enjoyment.

"It was really good to see you again, Rika. And may I just say, what a beautiful young woman you've grown into." He bowed gently.

She blushed. "Thank you, Mr Kobayashi," she said, "See you Monday then." She left, eating the ice cream as she went.

The ice cream was the perfect thing in the summer heat. It very quickly vanished and Liz found herself wanting even more. But, no, she restrained herself from rushing back for another tub.

The cobbles of the street were reflecting the sun up at her and she pulled out her sunglasses from her back to tone down the brightness. It was a pleasant walk from the shops into the area where it was more houses than anything else. The trees were rustling slightly in a lazy breeze.

It wasn't long before she was slowing down in front of her old house. She had no trouble finding it, the entrance still had the beautiful arch over it with the rose bush growing through the wooden slats. In the height of summer the flowers had started to lose their shine and wither somewhat and yet they were still an incredible shade of red and scattered over the green brilliantly.

She didn't want to go in. The hedge had come down and now you could see into the whole garden, meaning that she didn't even need a reason to.

Looking through the upstairs window she could see into her old bedroom. It was unrecognisable now that the walls had been painted and things moved. Then someone passed by and she jumped. It was still weird, even after all this time, to see other people living in the house. In her head, without her family it should be empty. But it wasn't. And looking around she could see that everything was different. That old swing had gone. No daffodils were in the front garden.

It had been a stupid idea, she realised, to go and hope that nothing had changed after all these years. That swing had been old by the time they'd moved, of course it had been taken down. But still. She wanted those things to be there, even now. If she couldn't live there anymore then it would have been nice to have a piece of her life preserved. She guessed it was, except it was only in her memory.

_Anyway, _she realised, _it's getting dark now. Best be off._

The sun had sunk behind the trees and now only the orange glow gave her any light. It was dark when she got back and Keiko had already gone to sleep, Liz could tell from the rumbling snores rolling down the stairs. For such a little girl she could make a heck of a lot of noise.

Five minutes later and she was washed and in bed. It had been an eventful day but, she reckoned, a good one. She fell asleep smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

3

"Hey, did you hear? They've just expanded Alfheim again!"

"What, no way!"

"Where is it? Are we levelled up enough?

Lizbeth looked up from the counter. In the line in front of her was a group of four teens all animatedly discussing the VRMMORPG that she knew so well. One actually had an ALO t-shirt on. They seemed to be quite excited over the announcement one of them had just made, an announcement which was news to Liz. She hadn't heard of any expansion! She'd been so busy with work and school that she'd hardly been able to play at all. Things still moved on without her she guessed.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Liz's attention dashed back to the suited man in front of her who was looking at her with mild concern over her spacing out and annoyance that his cappuccino hadn't yet arrived.

"Oh, sorry!" she said, taking his money and tapping the order into the till. Sayuri behind her saw the ticket and started making the coffee. Liz handed the man his change and he tutted as he moved over to the collection area.

A young couple, three businessmen and a man with a dog all came up, ordered their drinks and cake and moved over. The café had slowly been getting busier since she'd started working and now each of her shifts flew past. She served the customers in the queue but kept an eye on the group of teens who were still chatting animatedly. When they reached the front of the queue the guy in the ALO shirt took money from everyone and the others went over by the collection area.

He counted the money and looked up at her. "Two black coffees, a green tea and a Mint hot chocolate with cream, please." He dropped a bunch of small change into her hand which she then had to swiftly count out. It was the usual thing to tap in the order and drop the money into the till.

She collected up and then handed over his change. "Hey, so I heard you say that Alfheim got expanded?" She did her best to appear mildly interested and not like she'd been eavesdropping. The queue had dropped down enough that she could have a quick chat to grab the info.

As she'd expected, all four of them zeroed in on her when they'd got a hint of a girl who plays games. _Yep, these are that kind of gamer_. ALO shirt tried to hide his surprise. "Er, yeah, the expansion's out today," he said, smiling shyly. "So you play? What kind of-"

She cut him off and nodded. "Wonderful, I'll have to check it out." Liz moved away to look after the next customer, an elderly lady with a fluffy coat. She'd been waiting patiently as they'd talked and smiled at her.

The guy was still there though. "Maybe I'll see you there?" He looked way too hopeful.

She shot him one last smile. "Maybe. Hello, Ma'am, what can I get for you today?" she said to the woman, shutting off the conversation. He walked away, back to his mates who all seemed very jealous that he'd got to speak to her.

"Just a latte today please, dear. Oh, actually a flapjack as well." The woman's eyes twinkled at her as she smiled. "He seemed nice," she nodded to ALO shirt and handed over a note.

Liz raised her eyebrows. "Oh. I hadn't thought about it," she said as she put the order through.

The older woman chuckled. "Oh to be young," she said as she walked away with her coffee ticket.

Liz loved that kind of customer, the one who always liked a bit of a chat and interaction. Some people only saw you as a vending machine when you were behind the counter so it was nice to feel like talking person to person.

It was almost the end of her shift and so, after serving the last few customers in the line, she clocked out and headed for the back. She pulled her apron off over her head as she passed Suzuki, giving him a smile, and headed out the door to her bike. It was the easiest method of transport as although the café wasn't too far from her home it was a long walk and there weren't any good buses. Plus the exercise was always good. Liz pulled her helmet on and brushed her pink fringe out of her eyes. After much deliberation she'd gone through with it and one afternoon Keiko had helped her dye the pink in and slightly lighten the brown of the rest of it. It looked great and Liz loved showing it off.

The wet leaves were covering the path and she had to be careful not to slip as her tires sped over them. It had rained only recently so the ground was all soggy. Autumn was a very pretty time but could make the road a bit hazardous.

After hearing of the expansion, she couldn't wait to get home. She pulled up the phone menu on her watch and pinged it to her headphones. There she heard the dial tone a few times and then a click as it connected.

"Heya," Keiko's cute voice came down the line. Liz could hear some film in the background of the call so she smiled as she knew she probably only had about half of her housemate's attention.

"Hey, K, you free? Whatcha watchin'?" Liz sped round the corner and was relieved to see the new road was relatively leaf-free.

"Sure R, what's up? Just some Sci-Fi that's on the net. You cycling? It's a bit windy down the phone."

"Yeah but never mind that, get hold of everyone, see if they're free tonight. They're going to want to come online tonight."

Several minutes later and Liz pulled up outside her house. Bike safely locked away in the shed she headed in and shot straight to her room to get warm again. Seemed like everyone was in the house, she could hear Dai on his guitar downstairs and Keiko's film was faintly coming from the hall. Nice to have the house full.

Looking by her desk she saw that there was a flashing blue light on the side of the Amusphere. _So they were right about the update,_ she thought. It was a simple matter of starting up the device and hitting 'update' on the display to bring up a download bar. By the size of the file it looked like it would take a while. Liz grabbed a towel and decided to shower off her work day whilst it completed.

Ten minutes later and she hopped out the bathroom and into some comfy clothes that had rabbits on them. She hadn't washed her hair, it seemed safer to have a dry head if you were about to strap an electrical device to it. She'd had enough danger of a fried brain to last a lifetime or two.

She called into the hall, "Kei! I'm heading online, you coming?"

The hall replied, "Yeah, just gimme a sec!" Liz smiled. As she put on the Amusphere and hit 'on' she felt that jump that she always did just before she did a full dive into the game.

She closed her eyes. "Link start!"

As soon as the opening screen for Alfheim Online booted up she saw that there was something very different. The usual menu screen showing the lush green paradise and main town had been replaced by rocky crags and what looked like a volcano. This kinda gave away the new update but she guessed there must be a load more to it.

'_Brave Players!' _it read_, 'Alfheim is grave danger! The evil witch Medusa has risen from her sealed chambers to take control of our magnificent land and only you can stop her. She was released by the foolish player _Tyranis _who unwittingly destroyed the magic lock on her tomb.' _

The screen then showed a picture of this 'Tyranis' and Liz laughed as she saw that he was looking very sheepish. The updates on games these days were great. Ever since the gaming community had abolished paid downloadable content game companies had resorted to offering as much free content as they could to keep the players interested.

'_Open to you now is the whole new area of Kazeerak, her fiery domain. Can you stand the heat?'_

"Bit cheesy," she muttered. It all added to the fun though.

'_You'll have to, the whole of Alfheim is counting on you! So, to the final question. Are you ready?' _It then had a yes/no option underneath, only the 'no' was greyed out. Liz laughed at the game's cheekiness and hit 'yes'. It did bring up the uncomfortable memory of another game that wouldn't take no for an answer but she pushed that from her mind.

The menu disappeared and was followed by all white. There was the usual fizzling of light from her feet. It rose up her body and clad her in her Alfheim gear, her red and white garments, silver breastplate and gauntlets and of course her weapons. Oh, she'd missed this.

It seemed that she was the last person to arrive. As she appeared in the market square of Yggdrasil City she looked around and saw that Asuna, Silica, Klein, Sinon, Leafa and Kirito. There he stood in the sun looking all handsome and powerful, his dual blades attached to his back and glinting in the sun.

Liz suddenly realised that she'd been staring and quickly averted her eyes. Luckily nobody seemed to have noticed, especially just now Asuna had thrown herself around her.

"Liz! How are you, it's been ages!" Asuna's hugs were always rather tight and Liz had to push her away a bit to get any room to reply.

She blurted out an "I'm great, you? So good to see you!" And then returned the hug. It was so great to see everyone again, she thought. The gang was all here. Everyone was greeting each other, catching up.

Kirito walked up to her and hugged her. "Hey, Liz," he said as he pulled away. "Your hair's new."

"Huh?" Her mind went blank for a second until she remembered that she'd changed her avatar's hair to match her own IRL. What's the point in changing your look if you always look the same in game? "Oh, um, yeah. I had the same thing done in the real world so I thought I'd…." She trailed off.

He smiled. "Well I really like it."

She could feel herself going red. "Thank you!" she said with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. Waiting until he'd walked off to talk to Silica she slapped both of her cheeks gently to get a hold of herself.

She gave a hello and a hug to everyone who was there. Even Klein, though he did get a more brief hug than the rest. She was just talking with Leafa about how school was going when Asuna called them all over.

"It's been way too long since we were all here together so it's fantastic to see you all again." A chorus of nods. "I think we all have Liz to thank for it, letting us all know about that expansion. Good job, Liz. Usually there'd be a load of marketing for such a big expansion like this but I guess you guys all saw the new start screen?"

"Yeah, it looks like this was a player activated event," said Klein to the group.

Silica beamed. "That's pretty cool. Wonder if there are any others?" Pina squeaked to show her approval of this idea.

Kirito spoke up now. "I guess we'll just have to play and find out," he ruffled the little dragon tamer's hair. "But right now it seems we've got a serpent to slay. Who's up for it?" They all cheered and some other players looked over at the noise.

"Ok, are we all ready to head to the new area?" Asuna looked around and could tell everyone was set. "Right, then. Let's head to the teleport gate."

The large stone block in the middle of the town was the best way to get around. Rather than use teleport crystals which were limited and short-range the gate could get a player to almost anywhere in Alfheim instantly. When they reached it, Liz looked down the list of available options and saw a new one flashing at the bottom. '_Kazeerak_' sat there and egged her on to enter. She jabbed at it with determination and the fizzling started again.

When Liz opened her virtual eyes she could see the world that lay in front of her. It surprised her, as this world always did, just how vibrant and _real_ it all was. None of this looked like rendered pixels over a digital mesh. The ground crunched beneath her feet, that hot wind brush the hair against her cheek and the dust swirled around her legs.

There were a lot more mountains than she'd been expecting. In fact it appeared to be mostly mountains as far as she could see, though some were more earthy and hill-like. There was one patch of grass near this area's teleport gate but apart from that the land was arid. Far away in the background stood a great mountain, taller than the others, and by the smoke spouting form the top she could tell that it was a volcano. Liz had always liked volcanoes, the idea of the hot heart of the Earth bubbling up to spurt out from the ground, free at last.

The others all materialised around her. Asuna walked up to her and grinned. "Liz, we were all going to teleport at once but I guess you were a bit too excited," she said and winked.

Liz felt the red rising in her cheeks again. "Well, no-one told me!" She looked around. "Sorry, guys."

They laughed at her embarrassment and Leafa smiled at her, "It's ok, Liz, we're only joking."

"Well, we're here," Klein said. "What now?" He looked over at Asuna.

"Usually there'd be some NPC or quest item lying around to let us know what to do," she said, scanning around them. "But I guess this one's a bit different."

"Well," Klein got their attention and then pointed in the distance. "I say we head towards that volcano. Looks ominous enough to be a boss room. Maybe there'll be clues along the way?"

Asuna smiled at him. "Great idea, Klein. Any objections?" None of the group raised any, though they all looked around at each other. She nodded, "Great, volcano it is."

"Looks like we get there through this valley," Sinon said and everyone turned to where she was looking. Being the archer of the group her eyes were keener than anyone else's and this meant she often saw where to go or things that the others might have missed.

"Let's go that way then," Kirito said and they set off down the rocky path with him leading them.

It wound through the crags and steadily declined into the ground, meaning that they were all heading deeper into the earth and slowly further away from the gate. It was all made up of loose rocks and dirt and Liz almost fell a few times. Once she would have done had Sinon not seen and quickly snatched her wrist before she tumbled down into the canyon.

It wasn't long before Kirito slowed and held up his hand to stop them. "Hey, wait up."

There was a horde of fire lizardmen up ahead, more like humanoid salamanders, blocking off the path. Liz could see that the ground had fallen away either side of it and they hand now reached what was almost one end of a bridge. There was no clear way around and yet the lizards were almost the same levels as they were.

They all looked to Kirito, he took command in situations like this. When facing a group of enemies in battle as a team it was much more efficient for one team member to make the decisions. As such they could work faster and take down their obstacles with ease.

He looked over his shoulder. "We rush them and get through. If they turn out to be easy we take them all out, we may need the XP. If not then just get over the bridge but stay near the centre. I don't want anyone falling off, it looks like a long way down. Ok?" They nodded silently. "Then let's go."

As one the group dashed forward, swords raised. It had taken up the majority of a weekend for the group to get together and work out a series of attack patterns for situations just like this. As it was they had been drilled to near perfection and could be brought out almost instantly.

Looking over, Liz could see Kirito rapidly analysing the enemy group, his eyes flashing over each unit. "There's two groups, a three to the left and a five to the right! Klein, Liz, Sinon, take left and use pattern B. The rest, go right and surround for a triple A!"

Klein jumped in first, landing a hit on the rightmost lizardman, blocking the other two with his shield. "Switch!" he yelled and Liz was straight in there, dropping several slashes on all three of the enemies. She didn't feel the need to yell as Klein was already switching, dropping in where she had been and lunging behind her. The two of them looked like they were dancing as the HP of their opponents dwindled quickly. Of course, the various charged projectiles that continued to slam into the scaly bodies helped too as Sinon, armed with her trusty bow, fired arrow after arrow around them. Klein and she knew exactly where the arrows were going to appear and were able to dodge around them with ease.

With three final 'psshts' the lizardmen shattered into the light pixels. After the XP and any gold had all been shared out they regrouped across the bridge, back on more solid ground. "Hey did anyone get any item drops?" Klein looked around at them all, breathing heavily. They all replied in the negative.

Asuna frowned. "Weird, you'd have thought there would have been something. Oh well, we got the XP and gold. Let's keep going."

"We're going to have to head through that tunnel," Kirito said behind her and Liz could see the opening he was talking about. The path narrowed in again and suddenly became a single opening. Which was pitch black.

"It's ok!" Asuna span around. She closed her eyes and as she started chanting runes began to swirl around her in the air, shimmering golden.

"Oooh." Liz turned to see that Silica was looking with awe at a floating ball of light that had appeared in front of her. It moved away from her hand but returned to her side. Suddenly Liz saw that they all now had a glowing orb by them. Hers was resting just over her shoulder and was a nice teal-like shade.

"Tracker lights," Asuna said. "They follow you and light the way. Come on then, let's make a move." She headed towards the tunnel entrance, her own little pink tracker light following along behind her.

Liz looked over at Silica who was still playing with hers. "Come on, silly Silica," she grinned.

The narrowness of the tunnel meant that they had to walk in single file. It was quite cosy and with several little coloured orbs there wasn't a problem with light. Liz ran her fingers along the wall as she walked and was surprised as they felt rather smooth and dry. She would have expected jagged stone for this tunnel.

It turned out that Liz had filed in last so she kept checking out behind them for any creatures. Her tracker light meant she could see fairly well but after a time the light from the tunnel mouth faded to nothing and this left her slightly uncomfortable to think they were almost buried in the earth at this point. The tunnel twisted through the earth as well so she ended up not being able to see a great deal behind them.

Ahead of her, Sinon paused and she bumped into her back. "What's wro-" Liz started but Sinon threw up her hand and shushed her. She looked up at something.

"What are you-" Suddenly Sinon jumped back and grabbed her, throwing them both to the ground. They hit the earth hard just as the ceiling above where they'd just been collapsed, tons of rock and stone slamming down hard, filling the tunnel with an impassable wall. It collapsed the sides of the tunnel and left the two of them almost in a barren clearing.

Sinon turned and saw Liz's look of disbelief. "My detection skill was high enough to pick it up," she explained. "Are you alright?" Her eyes were narrowed to avoid all the dust now in the air.

Liz blinked. "Yeah, I think so." She stood up and brushed herself off. "No harm done." She reached down and pulled Sinon to her feet as well. "But what do we do now? We have to get back to the others."

They both looked at their path which might as well have never been there. It looked just like another cave wall now. Liz looked around. Somehow they now stood in a wide area. She guessed that there must have been another tunnel running alongside them and the wall between had broken.

Sinon had seen it too. "I guess we can try going out that way."

Suddenly both of their message systems started beeping incessantly. Liz tapped the buttons and suddenly Asuna's voice was coming from her menu. "Liz? Liz are you ok?"

Sinon was likewise and had Leafa's voice asking the same. "It's ok, Asuna, we're fine. Sinon got me out of the way, we're just stuck now."

"Oh thank goodness," Liz heard Asuna's sigh of relief. "But what are you going to do?"

"It's ok, we think there's another path we can go down." Liz checked their escape route and saw it looked like they could travel through it. "We might just have to take the long route."

There was muttering on the line as she heard the others discuss it. "Ok," came through eventually. "We've reached a cave here and were thinking of setting up camp for the night. A few of us need to log out." Liz looked at the top of the menu and saw that the time was much later than she'd thought. "Is that ok with you both?"

Sinon nodded at her. "Yeah, that's fine. We'll arrange a time tomorrow to carry on. Say goodnight to everyone for me," Liz made to close the menu.

"Sure thing. Night Liz, night Sinon." There was a click as the call ended.

Sinon closed her call too. Liz saw her hit a few buttons and 'Ping'. "There. I've let them know that we're logging out."

She looked around. "But what are we going to do about our avatars? This isn't exactly a safe location," Liz saw they could only see a few metres around them.

"It's ok." Sinon shook her head. "I learnt a few new protective spells before we left. I was actually online when I got your messages so I had a lot of time to prepare." She pulled her bow out and the runes along it started to glow. Liz was impressed. Sinon really knew what she was doing. Liz had only had enough time to rush and grab a few potions before beaming to the new area.

A glassy barrier appeared around Sinon's bow and slowly spread out until it covered the two of them completely. Another one followed it and then a third. "There," she said and lowered the bow. "We're protected."

Liz nodded and sat down on the ground, her companion following suit. They tapped the necessary keys and then their 'inactive' icons appeared above them. As the two of them logged out and their avatars sat there in complete stillness, the light of hundreds of eyes filled the new opening in the cave wall.


End file.
